Ranker’s Return

-Isn’t this too much?

-Tears are flowing.

-The real control doesn’t make sense.

-The advent of God Alley Leader!

The viewers reluctantly had to cheer for Hyeonu’s combat. Now the monsters were just pitiful. How could they not sympathize with them when this monster just died from a single blow after being played with throughout the battle?

“Thanks to your support, I completed my first battle smoothly. I thought it would be difficult because there were no buffs from Tang-E, but it went better than I expected.”

-Come to think of it?

-Where is Tang-E?

-You started streaming without Tang-E?!!

It was only after hearing Hyeonu’s words that the viewers realized there was no Tang-E present. This meant they had been too immersed in Hyeonu’s battle. It had a suction power that pulled in the viewers.

-So there were no buffs?

-Yet he was so overwhelming?

-His attack power is incomparable.

There was one more realization that came from Tang-E’s absence which was a lack of his buffs. As Kim Seokjung and other professional gamers had mentioned before, Tang-E’s buffs were amazing. They were considered better than those of ordinary priests, yet Alley Leader crushed the menon without the buffs.

“Everyone, do you now realize that I’m so great? I’ve always, always been like this. I am a consistent person.”

Indeed, Hyeonu was consistent.

***

All the viewers watching Tang-E had the same thought that he was cute and pretty. Yes, Tang-E was doing well. How cute was he when he was fighting? He was even cuter because of his small plump body. Tang-E was so cute...

It was the same. Even when the viewers watched Tang-E fight, they still felt a sense of maternal or paternal love for him. Maternal and paternal love were feelings that didn’t fit with combat, yet it was a good combination for Tang-E. The viewers’ hearts became warm as they watched the small body fight intently. Finally, the dark-skinned menon couldn’t withstand Tang-E’s magic and collapsed.

-The monster finally collapsed.

-Tang-E, good job.

-Tang-E is Cute has gifted you 7 gold coins.

-Take this and buy meat.

The viewers cheered for Tang-E and presented Hyeonu with gold coins. It was for the cost of Tang-E’s food as always.

‘They are strange people.’ Hyeonu saw the chat window and shook his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the viewers’ reactions.

Tang-E was naturally cute, but they didn’t see the ferocious beast hidden behind the cuteness. It was obvious how powerful Tang-E was just by looking at this scene. The battle had been quite intense, but he succeeded in killing the cursed menon without suffering any wounds.

‘You don’t know his true essence...’ Hyeonu clicked his tongue. 

Just then, a shadowy figure ran toward Hyeonu. It was Tang-E carrying a pile of gold coins in his arms. “Master dude, I picked up all the money here. Go to the city and buy some meat.” Tang-E approached Hyeonu and threw the gold coins over using his paws.

However, Tang-E was small, and there were many gold coins, so he couldn’t do it properly. He didn’t just stick out his paws; he stuck out his chest as well. 

“Why did you pick them up? I would buy some meat even without these. Let’s take a break and eat some meat,” Hyeonu said and laughed at the sight of Tang-E. 

Grabbing the gold coins from Tang-E, Hyeonu put them away in his inventory. Then he turned to the audience and added a sentence, “Tang-E, we will eat with just the two of us.”

-Ahhhhh! How can there be such a thing?

-Let us watch together! Don’t you know mukbangs?!! [1]

-Why watch a good thing alone? Feel the joy of sharing!

Sparks broke out in the chat, and the chat window scrolled at a crazy speed. Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t care at all and just hugged Tang-E.

“Yes, I’ll watch it alone,” Hyeonu stated.

Indeed, the one who was most blinded by Tang-E’s cuteness was Hyeonu himself.

***

Hyeonu once again moved through the door to the next space. From now on, it would be a space Hyeonu hadn’t been to. He would be seeing it for the first time, just like the viewers.

‘Now is the real start.’

Hyeonu’s body was tense as he set about exploring the unknown dungeon. He couldn’t make any promises with the audience in order to keep the agreement to eat meat with Tang-E. If the clearance time were delayed, streaming would be a problem, let alone the meat-eating session.

“I don’t know anything from now on. Everything I saw before was what I worked hard to find before the stream,” Hyeonu whispered in a voice so soft only the viewers could hear.

-Really? Why is he being so careful?

-He keeps looking around. It doesn’t seem like acting.

-Thinking about his usual style, he is the type to just clear the dungeon and then end the stream.

-Yes, he is really that type of person. This is the first time I’ve seen him looking like this.

The viewers soon embraced Hyeonu’s words and nodded in understanding because Hyeonu was acting completely differently from usual.

‘Be careful, careful.’ Hyeonu moved while holding his breath.

He didn’t know when, where, and what would pop out, but this was half an exaggeration. Considering Hyeonu’s current specs, Guan’s Residence—where the menon and others appeared—wasn’t a very difficult dungeon for him. So this was actually a performance to cater to the special circumstances of the stream.

“So far, only monsters have appeared, right? Now seems to be the time for something else to come out. Keep your eyes wide open and look around.”

Hyeonu was fully immersed in the stream and acted like this was a really difficult dungeon. As such, the audience was instantly sucked in.

-Take a look around, everyone. We don’t know when monsters will come out.

-Maggots. Maggots will appear. ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ

-It seems like a trap card will appear instead of maggots. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

‘What is this?’

Something suspicious caught Hyeonu’s eyes as he looked around. Exquisitely obscured by the surrounding objects, the item was hard to spot. When Hyeonu looked closely, he could see letters written in red on the piece of paper, which was the size of his palm. Hyeonu was well aware as to what this was. It looked similar to the return amulets that he used in the East Continent.

‘This is an amulet.’

“Everyone, do you see that?” Hyeonu asked as he pointed at the amulet he had found. “Do you know what that is?”

-What is that?

-Is it a shaman’s doodle?

-It is like a child?

The viewers didn’t know what this writing was though. They just saw something written on the wall.

“This is an amulet. It acts like magic circles in the West Continent. You can think of it as a scroll.”

-Oh, if you ignore that and pass by, will magic appear?

-Get rid of it quickly.

-However, I want to see it once...

-Then experience it with your body.

It was only after hearing Hyeonu’s explanation that the audience realized the unknown writing was an amulet.

“I will destroy the trap,” Hyeonu stated.

Then he pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword and released pure energy toward the amulet. Upon getting hit by Hyeonu’s pure energy, the amulet exploded with a loud sound. No, it wasn’t just a sound. The amulet disappeared with lots of yellow sparks.

“Maybe it contained a lightning magic trap. I’m glad. It would be very tingly if I were hit by that,” Hyeonu spoke with a sigh of relief.

‘Ohh...’

His heart was pounding. If he hadn’t found it, he would’ve passed right by it and then gotten subjected to the intense lightning magic trap. It was literally a bolt from clear skies.

-It’s a shame.

-I could’ve made a GIF of Alley Leader being hit by lightning.

-It is a pity.

-Isn’t lightning okay when clearing a dungeon?

The chat window was filled with the audience members’ half joking, half sincere words. They were very mischievous audience members.

‘Is this the end?’ Hyeonu thought as he carefully passed through the space and finally arrived at a passageway that connected to another space.

“I think this is the final room.” 

Before leaving the space, Hyeonu spoke to the audience in a swaggy voice, but something blurry passed by above Hyeonu’s head right at this moment.

“Then let’s move onto the next room quickly—uawaah!”

The identity of the blurry thing was a ghost, and seeing it made Hyeonu so frightened that he went running through the passage. Meanwhile, Tang-E and the viewers shook their heads and laughed at him. “Cowardly Master dude.”

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ There can’t be only magic traps.

-I acknowledge the broadcasting genius Alley Leader.

-Kuek... He made this type of super fun thing here. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-People just have fun. ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ

***

Hyeonu frantically arrived at the next space and looked around more cautiously. It was the effect of seeing the ghost a little while ago. This new space was quite spacious. If the previous space was roughly the size of the gymnasium, then the one that unfolded this time was the size of a football field.

‘It suddenly changed?’

Hyeonu looked at the surroundings of the rapidly expanding space more carefully. Of course, the dungeon wasn’t difficult. He was just worried about more ghosts coming out. To be precise, he was concerned about them emerging near him. There were only a few things Hyeonu was scared of in this world, and one of them was the sudden appearance of things. It might be scary for everyone, but Hyeonu’s fear was to a serious degree.

‘This area is so wide. Will it appear about my head?’ Hyeonu judged the situation and moved more confidently. He had nothing to be afraid of in such a wide area!

-Loooool ㅋㅋㅋ. His movements suddenly became bigger ㅋㅋㅋ

-Isn’t he totally just trying to cover up his mistakes? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-What is the use of doing this now that you’re completely certified as a coward? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Our Alley Leader is afraid of ghosts. Kyaaah!

The viewers laughed when they saw the way Hyeonu was moving. It was a belated manner of maneuvering as they had already seen him scream and flee earlier.

“Everyone, I’m not surprised by ghosts. Anyone would be shocked when something suddenly appears. I am a person as well.” Hyeonu saw the chat window and expressed his displeasure to the audience.

‘No, is there anyone who would’ve been unsurprised by that?’

It was a shock. So it was normal to be surprised. Indeed, this was normal.

-Yes, I’m sure.

-Of course.

-Yes, I believe it. 

Yet the viewers couldn’t believe it at all. The viewers of Alley Leader’s stream were as vicious as the streamer himself.

“No... I’m not afraid of ghosts. I’m afraid of something suddenly popping out.”

-Uwahhhh!

-Hiiiiiik!!!

-Uhweeeh!

-Kyaaaak!!!

Just then, the chat window was flooded with screams. Hyeonu’s eyes widened when he saw that, and he turned his head more slowly than ever to look behind him.

“Eh?”

There was nothing there. Hyeonu only saw the space he had just passed by, where there were scattered stones and broken fragments on the ground. He turned his head and looked around some more, but there was still nothing to be found.

“There is nothing?” Hyeonu murmured in a low voice. He couldn’t understand and turned to see shocking messages rising in the chat window.

-Yes, you were caught.

-Ghosts aren’t scary, but your head turned slowly.

-Do you admit it now?

-Kikik, you were deceived again. Alley Leader was deceived again. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

It was just a prank done by the viewers to tease Hyeonu. When Hyeonu realized this, he wanted to scream.

-Something really just appeared behind you.

-It isn’t a lie this time.

-Really, I will bet with gold coins. 500 gold coins.

“Yeah, I don’t believe it.”

Then a huge red object fell toward Hyeonu’s head.

[1] Eating streams